This exhibit is called In
Fine Feather, but it was almost called Swan
Swan Hummingbird after a song by R.E.M. from the Lifes Rich Pageant* album. Each summer I’m compelled to obsessively play Lifes
Rich Pageant. It came out in July
1986. I had not only the vinyl LP, but
also a cassette. During the summer of
'86, I worked in the southern end of Walton County, Florida for Rivard
Realty. I started work two days after I
graduated from Walton Senior High in Defuniak Springs. I painted signs, cut brush from around larger
highway signs, and maintained the odd property or two. At the end of the day I'd swing out to the
beach for a swim in the Gulf of Mexico. It was an idyllic town and period before the events of life got carried away. The cassette was always in my Walkman while I worked and as a result it
is now ingrained with the sights, the smells and the promise of summer.
The song (Swan Swan H) is full of obtuse imagery about the
South. Growing up in the rural South
you develop a different set of natural rhythms since there are only two
seasons....three if you count love bug season. For some the cycle is centered on farming while others it’s when the mullet run,
but for me it seemed to be the birds.
They are fragments of the absorbed minutiae of the region and are part
of the tapestry of "me." It sets a time
and place; the diving swoosh of the Common Nighthawk (my Dad called them Bull
Bats) late in the evening right at sundown before the heat of the day breaks, the call of the Blue Jay after a thunderstorm with leaves still dripping, the
sight of egrets in the pasture as a tractor cut hay, and the ever present chatter of the Mockingbird
at dawn. Even now birds lead the natural
patterns I notice and they became the focus of my art in 2012 and will be going
forward.
I present my birds on a complementary or neutral background
while drastically simplifying its environment.
This isolates the bird and puts the viewer eye to eye on equal footing; a portrait of sorts. Part of the simplification process extends
to the animals themselves. There aren’t
represented photo realistically, but enough hints of feather pattern, color and
highlight are given to form the gestalt.
The medium I use is acrylic, sometimes called synthetic
polymer. It’s considered a water-based
media and dries quickly. I’ve developed
a method to store my paints and mixtures using wax paper over moist paper
towels. This allows me to work at a
varying pace and not waste paint.
Whenever possible I’ve used reclaimed wood, grape vine
trimmings, or cane for the frames. I
only stain or paint the frame when necessary or if dictated by the composition.
This provides a more natural, sustainable and attractive frame.
*Note: the apostrophe
was deliberately left of the album title by the band. R.E.M. did this with nearly all contractions,
though this case is a possessive.
